8.30.2010

I made a football pig for Hero's birthday when I was a part of Sew Saucy. Since then it has been listed on 2 different websites! I was so excited about it and I decided I should put a copy of the tutorial here on this blog and put a link in my tutorial tab. So, if you haven't already seen it, check it out here. It's super cute!!

Plus, I decided I should link over to all the posts I did on Sew Saucy. Click here to check them out.

8.26.2010

My husband's sister and her family are moving across country. They are driving the distance with all they can carry and their children, a boy in elementary school and a toddler girl. WOW. What a trip that's going to be!!

Since we won't be seeing them for 6 months at least, I wanted to give something to let them know we love them, and also to hopefully help with the long drive ahead.

A few tips when making this doll. The pattern pieces are on one page you print off. It said to enlarge to 150% before you print, but when I did, it cut off the leg piece. I ended up enlarging it to 140% and there was just enough of a leg to draw in the rest.

Then, make sure to add a seam allowance before you cut the limbs at least. Without it, they are so tiny and it's impossible to turn and stuff. Plus, they just look awkwardly skinny. I added only 1/4" all around.

For the arms, I cut the hands/sleeves with overlap of the two fabrics so the arms would still be the same length.

I looped satin ribbon for the bows on the top and sewed them in the same way as the limbs. I embroidered the face after drawing it on with a pencil. If you choose to embroider, do it before you sew the front to the back.

For my nephew I took this wooden in-box letter keeper and spray painted the bottom with chalkboard paint. I thought it would be a great distraction. Plus it would be useful for any other toys he plays with and with eating; it's just a great lap table. The edge will ensure that the chalk won't roll off, and when they get to their new home, it can be hung on the wall and still hold the chalk and eraser.

I made the eraser by covering a sponge with felt. (I need to make one of these for my own chalkboard).

For the parents, we got them their favorite road trip junk food: sour candy and spicy chips. We will miss these guys so much. We wish you luck in your new adventure!

8.25.2010

When my husband's grandma came to visit, his cousin came too. Blake is an only child and since he had 2 weeks here I suggested that he make a blanket for his mom. He grumbled, but agreed. We pulled material out of my stash (most of which I stole from my mom's stash...) and picked 4 colors. My favorite moment, Blake said, "My mom likes purple." *mental jaw drop* A 13-year-old boy knows what color is his mom's favorite... and remembered?!

Either way, we worked with what I had. With some encouraging and teasing, I showed Blake how to cut the squares:

Sew them together:

And then tie the blanket:

The only part he didn't do was the edging. It's a little bit more difficult, plus I wanted to try out my new walking foot...

For a kid who's never sewn before, I was mightily impressed that there where only 2 spots in the entire blanket that were noticeably misaligned (and we just covered those with ties!).

8.23.2010

My husband's grandmother came to visit from Texas for the last 2 weeks. Laolao (grandma) makes jewelry as a hobby. While she was here, she made me 2 sets of matching earrings and bracelet. I wanted to make her a gift too. After I got that awesome package in the mail, I went through the calender and found a project for a "Jewelry Roll" that I thought it was perfect. Click here for the pattern online.

It was pretty simple, even though the instructions looked a bit complex. And it turned out super cute:

The orange thing in the center is for rings, secured with a snap:

And there are 2 pockets:

It went together quickly; but it would have taken about 30 min less if it weren't for the silly snap:

I've never done snaps you hammer in place before. First, I couldn't get it to work with the suggested spool buffer between the snap and the hammer; the spool smashed in and I ended up using a baby food jar's lid. Then, I ruined one top by not having the correct side facing the fabric so the prongs smashed, but didn't hold (plus I cracked and scratched the pearl top). Next, I ruined on bottom by smashing the point in. This time it was secure and I had to cut it out, repair the hole, and try again. I ended up using a larger snap piece from another pack to use as a protector for the one that ended up on the finished project. Anyone know an easier way of using these?

I also used my walking foot for the first time on this project, and let me tell you, WORTH EVERY PENNY (especially when you get it cheap on Amazon.com)! It was suggested in the pattern to use the walking foot to sew around the edge because you are working with so many layers at that point. I did, and it's excellent! It feeds so evenly that all I had to do was guide it. No shifting, no pulling and fixing. It just worked. Definitely recommend the walking foot!

Things I've learned:

1. Use baby food lid for applying snaps. Or perhaps go buy a kit for it...
2. Walking foot is the best thing ever!!. . . for now. . .

First, cut 1 piece of elastic. For mine, I cut the 1" elastic 6 in long and the 1/2" elastic 6 1/2 in long. But before you cut a bunch of them, take the binder clip to hold one end, then stretch it around the inside of the binder. This will leave one hand free to test the stretch of the elastic, you want it to be tight enough to hold things without letting them slide out. I tested with a pack of cards.

Once you figure out what length you need for your elastic, cut as many as you will use

Next step is to lay the elastic out so you know where you will want it. Don't bother trying to weave it yet. This is just to get a feel for where they will be. Make sure to leave space for the binder rings so they won't hit when you close the binder.

Now you hot glue. Do the vertical ones first. Glue the top of each elastic on the outside of the binder, allow to dry for a few minutes to make sure it holds. Then stretch it down and glue the other end, also to the outside.

For the horizontal ones, start on the inside, gluing the edge to the edge where the binder folds.

it looks weaved, but you don't need to worry about that when doing this step.

Now is the fun part of weaving the elastic. You can weave it however you want, just try to leave some larger stretches as well as small ones. I used pins to hold them down to see what it would look like. You could also use the binder clips again.

After you've weaved it to your satisfaction, hot glue the other end on the outside. Your binder should now look like this:

Now to cover the edges. For the inside, I chose this inspirational printed twill tape. Just lay it over and hot glue it down.

Choosing how to cover the outside took some time. I considered covering with awesome material, or scrapbook paper. But this was made for an 18 year old boy. I had to make sure it wasn't girly-crafty. So I had to ask my husband... He helped me decide that the satin ribbon was the least girly of the options. If you are making it for a girl, you could do such pretty and cute things with this part!!

But here's how you do the ribbon. First, measure it against the edge, leaving a bit extra on either end. Fold it over and secure with a dab of hot glue.

Then hot glue over the elastic ends.

Even though there are no elastic edges to cover, I decided to put ribbon on the folded edge too, so it was symmetrical. And now your done!

Outside:

Inside:

Stuff with your stuff and take it to school!

Actual stuff of the bro-in-law. He was pretty excited about it! And claimed it was not too girly.

8.18.2010

Yesterday I got a package in the mail from Amazon.com, and I was super excited!! After adding things to my virtual shopping cart, and then letting them sit for almost a month, I finally decided it was worth it to buy. (Am I the only one who does that?)

Anyway, what did I buy?

3 books:

I'll be honest, I bought the 2 sewing ones because they each have an adorable pattern for booties in them. But I was happy to see that there are plenty of other awesome projects that I can't wait to make!

The knitting book with the dirty name. . . well, I have the crochet book by the same author and love it. And I've borrowed this book from my Knitting Ninja friend before. It's great with excellent drawings and instructions to teach knitting, which I am still learning and determined to master. Eventually.

8.13.2010

This is the baby I made them for, who would rather lick an old ice cream lid:

(washed and used for toy storage...)

And just when I was getting her interested in them for a picture,

This is her brother stealing them. Again.:

I can't convince Hero that not everything I make is for him.

(he's potty training, thus the lack of pants)

And these are the pictures of his hand stealing the rings as I tried to get a nice shot of them.

The rings were pretty easy to make, but when her instructions said, "Be patient with this part" in regard to stuffing them, she wasn't kidding! The first ring took me about 30 min to stuff as I figured it out. I just hope eventually Pretty will actually like them, and Hero will let her have them. Maybe a second set is in order...